Question

what character traits would you associate with "the first one " and "the next man"?why? poem name is The cold within by James Patrick kinney

Answer 1

Answer:

The first person in the poem The Cold Within was a White woman. She “held hers back/ For, of the faces round the fire,/ She noticed one was black.” This is indicative enough of the racial hatred of the White woman for the black man. She was simply prejudiced over colour of people.

The next man was a bigot. This is clear from his hatred for a man who was “not of his church”. That was the reason why he “could not bring himself to give/ The fire his stick of birch.” This is bigotry, intolerance of opinions other than him